1. This guide is provided free of charge
and is for use outside the UK only
This form is
You should read this information guide to help you decide which documents may be useful in supporting the
statements that you have made on your visa application form (VAF).
It is not a list of documents that you must submit. We do not expect you to provide all of the documents listed
below, it is for you to decide which documents are most relevant to your application.
The submission of all or any of these documents does not guarantee that your application will
be successful.
Information about you
These documents are important because they provide information about your personal circumstances in the country in
which you are applying.
A current and valid travel document or We will not issue a visa if you do not have a valid passport or travel document
passport to put the visa in.
One passport sized colour photograph This must comply with the requirements in our photo guidance
Evidence of your permission to be in This could be a residence permit, ‘green card’ or valid visa showing your
the country where you are applying, if current immigration status.
you are not a national of that country
Previous passports These are to show your previous travel history
Evidence of your marital status This could include a marriage certificate, a civil partnership certificate, a divorce
certificate or a death certificate
Evidence of your current employment This could include:
or studies  a letter from your employer on company headed paper – detailing your salary
and the length of your employment, confirming that you have been given time
off work, and stating whether this time off is paid or unpaid. You could also
consider submitting further documents which might support an employment
letter, such as pay slips or tax returns. If you have recently entered new
employment you could consider providing details of your previous employment
and salary history.
 a letter from your education provider on headed paper – confirming your
enrolment and leave of absence
 business registration documents confirming the business owner’s name and
the date when the business started trading
Information about your finances and employment
You may submit any of the following financial documents. You should consider including evidence of your total monthly
income from all sources, for example employment, friends, family, personal savings or property. This will help us assess
your circumstances in your own country and will provide us with evidence of how your trip is to be funded. You should
consider providing this information even if someone else is paying for your trip.
- If someone else is paying for your trip then they should consider providing the same information about their finances and
employment.
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2. - If you are providing documents from a joint account then please explain who the other account holders are, and why you
have permission to spend money from the account
- If your spouse or partner is employed then the Entry Clearance Officer also finds it helpful to see evidence of their
employment and financial details.
Bank statements or bank books Showing what has been paid in and out of an account for up to the previous six
months, and naming the account holder. If you have made deposits in your
account that are not in keeping with the account history then you may wish to
explain the origins and timing of these deposits.
Bank letter or balance certificate Showing the account balance, the account holder’s name and the date when
the account was opened. If you provide this document you should consider
providing additional documents to show the origins of the money in your
account.
Payslips Covering up to the previous six months. If your salary is paid directly into your
bank account, you should consider providing the statements showing these
payments
Tax returns (business or personal) You could include recent documents from your government tax office,
confirming your income and the amount of tax that you have paid
Business bank account statements If you include these you may wish to explain why you are allowed to spend the
money from a business account if you are on a private visit
Evidence of income from property or This could include property deeds, mortgage statements, tenancy agreements,
land accountant’s letters, land registration documents or crop receipts. If the
property or land is registered in several names, you may wish to explain how
much you own. If the money earned from the land is shared, you may wish to
say how it is divided
Accommodation and travel details
You may wish to submit the following documents to help show us your accommodation and travel arrangements in the UK
and on which date you intend to leave the UK. We advise that you do not make any payments for accommodation, travel
and so on until you have received your visa.
Details of accommodation and return This could be:
travel bookings  hotel booking confirmation (usually email)
 travel booking confirmation (can be email or copy of tickets)
 travel agent confirmation of both
 accommodation details with a supporting letter from the occupant confirming
that you are able to stay there
Information about your visit to the UK
Depending on the reason for your visit, you may wish to provide some of the following documents to help to show us what
you plan to do while you are in the UK.
In some locations you can only apply by making an online application. You should check on our supported
countries page to see if you have to or if you are able to make an online application. If you make an online
application you must also print off the application form and submit it with any supporting documents you have
chosen to submit.
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3. General Visitor/ Tourist
Completed visa application form  If your country does not support online applications you must complete and
submit a VAF1A.
A planned itinerary, if you have one This could include:
 bookings or tickets for any excursions, trips and outings
 email conversations about any excursions, trips and outings
 travel agent bookings
Supporting letter(s) from your friend or If you are visiting a friend you may wish to include a letter of invitation from
sponsor in the UK them as well as their financial documents, as outlined in the finances and
employment section above.
You should also consider supplying evidence of their immigration status in the
UK, this could be copies of:
 bio-data pages from their passports
 valid visa or immigration stamp from their passport
 Home Office letter confirming permission to stay in the UK
Family Visitor
If you want to come to the UK as a Family Visitor you may check our guidance - Visiting family to make sure that you
qualify.
Completed visa application form If your country does not support online applications you must complete and
submit a VAF1B
A planned itinerary, if you have one This could include:
 bookings or tickets for any excursions, trips and outings
 email conversations about any excursions, trips and outings
 travel agent bookings
Evidence and supporting letter from If you are visiting a family member you may wish to include a letter of invitation
your family member in the UK that you from them as well as their financial documents, as outlined in the finances and
intend to visit employment section above.
You should also consider supplying evidence of their immigration status in the
UK, this could be copies of:
 bio-data pages from their passports
 valid visa or immigration stamp from their passport
 Home Office letter confirming permission to stay in the UK
Business Visitor
Completed visa application form If your country does not support online applications you must complete and
submit a VAF1C
Evidence of who invited you to the UK A letter of invitation from the business on their official headed paper confirming
who you will be visiting, staying with or supported by during your visit.
Evidence of any previous dealings with This could include any evidence of
the UK company that you are visiting  business meetings
 email conversations
 company activities/ invoices
Prospective Entrepreneur
This is a special visitor category created to enable individuals to come to secure funding in order to set up or run a business in
the UK with a view to meeting the financial criteria under Tier 1 Entrepreneur route within 6 months. This category has specific
documentary requirements.
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4. Completed visa application form If your country does not support online applications you must complete and
submit a VAF1C
Evidence required under the The Immigration Rules require that you must provide:
Immigration Rules  a letter from one or more FSA-registered Venture Capitalists* supporting
the application; and / or
 a letter from one or more UK Government Departments** supporting the
application; and / or
 a letter from one or more UK entrepreneurial seed funding competitions
which is listed as endorsed on the UK Trade & Investment website
A definition for Venture Capitalists can be found on the Business Link website. Venture
Capitalists must be regulated as venture capitalists by the Financial Services Authority
(FSA). See the FSA website.
** Please see Directgov website for information on UK Government Departments.
Requirements for letters of support Each letter must:
 be an original document and not a copy;
 be on the institution’s official headed paper;
 have been issued and signed by an authorised official of that institution;
and
 have been produced within the three months immediately before the
date of your visa application
The letter has specific content requirements. To ensure that you meet these
requirements you should read the information set out in the main UKBA web
pages and paragraph 56 (O) of the Immigration Rules.
Student Visitor
Completed visa application form If your country does not support online applications you must complete and
submit a VAF1D
Evidence that you have been This would normally be a letter of acceptance from the UK educational
unconditionally accepted or enrolled on institution on their official headed paper providing the following details
a course of study in the UK  name of the course
 duration of the course
 cost of the course (including accommodation if appropriate)
Evidence of any previous study or This could include
qualifications gained  a certificate of award
 academic reference or transcript
Evidence of any English language This could include
ability or qualifications  test result certificate (for example IELTS, TOEFL, PTE Academic etc)
 certificate of award (for degrees taught in English)
Evidence of your financial sponsor’s This could include a variety of any of the financial documents outlined above in
occupation, income and any savings or the finances section.
assets they have, as well as any funds
they have set aside specifically to pay You should also consider supplying evidence of their immigration status in the
for your studies UK, this could be copies of:
 bio-data pages from their passports
 valid visa or immigration stamp from their passport
 Home Office letter confirming permission to stay in the UK
Tuberculosis (TB) testing (where Residents from certain countries applying for a visa to come to the UK for
applicable) for student visitors longer than 6 months need to get a certificate confirming that they are free from
studying English language courses infectious Tuberculosis (TB) before applying for a visa. A list of these countries
only longer than 6 months along with information on TB testing can be found on the UKBA pages.
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5. Academic Visitor
Completed visa application form If your country does not support online applications you must complete and
submit a VAF1E
Evidence that you have been invited to This could include your formal letter of invitation confirming what you will be
the UK by the academic institution you doing at the academic institution and the terms on which you have been invited.
will attend
Evidence that you have been working This could include evidence of:
as an academic in an institution of  business meetings
higher education or in the field of your  email conversations
academic expertise immediately prior  company activities
to your visa application.  employment contract
Details of any grants or bursaries This could include documents from the donor on their official headed paper
relevant to your application providing details of the bursary or grant that you have been awarded
Marriage Visitor
Completed visa application form If your country does not support online applications you must complete and
submit a VAF1F
Evidence to show that arrangements This could include:
have been made for the marriage or  evidence that you have given notification of marriage to the registry office in
civil partnership to take place during the UK where your partner lives
your visit or if not, that you have given  details of the marriage or civil partnership and evidence of money paid
the appropriate notification towards costs related to it
Evidence to show that you are free to This could include a:
marry or enter into a civil partnership  decree nisi
 decree absolute
 death certificate of a previous partner
Medical Visitor
Completed visa application form If your country does not support online applications you must complete and
submit a VAF1G
Evidence that the hospital or clinic has This could include:
agreed to treat you  appointment letter from the hospital detailing the cost and duration of
treatment
 letter from your consultant
Evidence to show how the treatment is This could include a variety of any of the financial documents outlined above in
being paid for the finances section
Visitor in Transit and Direct Airside Transit
Completed visa application form If your country does not support online applications and you are
 a Visitor in Transit - you must complete and submit a VAF1H
 applying for a Direct Airside Transit visa - you must complete and submit a
VAF6
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6. Evidence that the earliest onward This could be:
passage from the UK has been  travel booking confirmation (can be email or copy of tickets)
booked/confirmed, and that it is either  travel agent confirmation
within 24 hours of arrival in the UK for
Direct Airside Transit or 48 hours of
arrival in the UK for Visitor in Transit
Evidence that you are assured entry This could be:
into the onward country that you are  a residence permit
travelling to  ‘green card’
 valid visa
Sports Visitor and Entertainer Visitor
Completed visa application form If your country does not support online applications and you are:
 a Sports visitor - you must complete and submit a VAF1J
 an Entertainer visitor - you must complete and submit a VAF1K
Evidence of your invitation to attend This would normally be an invitation letter from the organisers of the event on
the event their official headed paper.
Supporting letters from any sponsor’s This could be provided by an official sporting or entertainment organisation,
confirming who you will be visiting, staying with or supported by during your
visit.
Olympics/ Paralympic Games Visit Visa
‘Games Family Members’ who will be travelling to the UK for meetings, training camps and test events outside of the
Games Period may be eligible to apply for the Olympic/Paralympic Games Visit visa. Applicants will be subject to the
same controls as other visitors, and visa nationals will be required to submit their biometrics and pay the visa fee as part
of their visa application. You should also consider submitting supporting documents as detailed in the Information about
you, Information about your finances, employment, accommodation and travel details section above.
Completed visa application form  If your country does not support online applications you must complete and
submit a VAF1A.
Evidence that you are eligible to apply An original letter, or a scanned letter including a unique reference number, from
for a visa under the London Organising the London Organising Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games
Committee for the Olympic and (LOCOG) confirming that:
Paralympic Games (LOCOG) scheme
 you are eligible to apply for a visa under this scheme
 your date of arrival and departure from the UK
 your job title and the name of the organization that you represent
 the name of the person or department at LOCOG that you are visiting
or the meeting/workshop/event that you are attending and how this is
specifically relevant to the Olympics or Paralympics

Scanned invitation letters should also contain your passport number.

Information about children
The United Kingdom Border Agency has an obligation under Section 55 of the Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Act
2009 to safeguard the welfare of children. This means that if you apply as a child visitor we will want to know who your
parents are, who you are travelling with and that there are adequate care arrangements for you in the UK.
If you are an adult (other than the parent or legal guardian) travelling with a child, you may be asked to present the
parents’ or legal guardian’s written consent. If you are the child’s parent, you may be asked to provide evidence of the
other parent’s consent if they are not travelling with you.
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7. The Entry Clearance Officer may wish to see:
 the child’s birth certificate
 a signed and dated letter from the child’s parent or guardian
 an official letter from an authority confirming guardianship
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